Author: CHUNG Yoon-Ngan
Date: 10-29-03 18:04
Surname Zhu (朱)
(Please read carefully. It might be hard to understand.
If you don't follow and have questions on ZHU query me,
as the story is very long and a bit confused).
Zhu means: red; scarlet.
The surname Zhu is about 2,300 years old.
The surname Zhu originated in an area referred to during the Han Dynasty (漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Pei prefecture (沛郡). The present day location of Pei prefecture is in Xiao county (蕭縣 116.9 degree East and 34.2 degree North, on the world map) of Jiangsu province (江蘇省).
A descendant of Huang Di (黃帝) or the Yellow Emperor, the legendary leader of the united clans before the formation of kingdoms, by the name of Cao Jia (曹 挾), was one of the many people who had helped Ji Fa (姬發), the leader of the Zhou Clan (周族), to destroy the Shang Dynasty (商朝1783BC to 1122BC). Ji Fa established the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC). Ji Fa was known as Zhou King Wu (周武王) and he rewarded Cao Jia the hereditary title of Zi (子爵) or Viscount. Zhou King Wu also gave him with authority to rule a district called Zhu (邾 present day Zou 陬 village in the southeast of Qu Fu county 曲阜縣) in Shandong province (山東省). District Zhu was renamed the State of Zhu (邾國) which was nicknamed Xiao Zhu (小邾) or little Zhu through out the history.
In the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時間 722BC to 481BC), in 718BC, the ruler of Zhu formed an alliance with the State of Zheng (鄭國 present day Xin Zheng 新鄭 city in Henan province 河南省). Together they invaded the State of Song (宋國 present day Shang Qiu county 商丘縣 in Henan province). The combined forces were defeated by the Song forces.
Other than this incursion the people of Zhu lived peacefully and happily. However, 230 years later in 487BC Cao Yi (曹益) became the leader of Zhu. He was a wicked and cruel ruler. In order to punish Cao Yi the neighbouring State of Lu (魯國 present day Qu Fu county 曲阜縣 in Shandong province 山東省) invaded Zhu and captured Cao Yi who was imprisoned in Lu for one year.
While Cao Yi was in captivity Zhu was leaderless. The ruler of another neighbouring the State of Wu (吳國 present day Wu Xian 吳縣 in Jiangsu province 江蘇省) installed Cao Ge (曹革), the son of Cao Yi, as the new ruler of Zhu.
The following year Cao Yi was released. As soon as he returned home he dismissed his son as the ruler of Zhu. He proclaimed that he was the ruler again. He did not repent but continued to be wicked and cruel. He believed that the State of Wu was backing him in whatever he was embarking. However, the State of Wu could not tolerate his bad behaviour and invaded Zhu and captured him. He was imprisoned for the second time. His son Cao Ge became the ruler of Zhu the second time.
In 473BC when the State of Wu was conquered and annexed by the State of Yue (越國 present day Zhu Ji county 諸暨縣 in Zhejiang province 浙江省) Cao Yi was released by Si Gou Jian (姒勾踐), the ruler of Yue. Cao Yi returned home and expelled his son Cao Ge the second time and became the ruler of Zhu, the third time.
Again Cao Yi did not repent but continued to behaviour badly. He was as wicked and cruel as before. The ruler of Yue could not tolerate him and imprisoned him for life. The ruler of Yue installed his other son, Cao He (曹和) as the new ruler of Zhu. Cao He changed the name of his State from the State of Zhu to the State of Zou (鄒國) since Zhu and Zou had the same pronunciation in Yue dialect.
During the period of Warring States (戰國時代 453BC to 221BC) in 372BC Mencius was born in the State of Zou. Mencius was a great philosopher and an ardant champion of Confucianism.
In 310BC State of Zou was conquered and annexed by the State of Chu (楚國 present day Jiang Ling county 江陵縣 in Hubei province 湖北省). Some of the royal
members of Zou adopted Zou (鄒) as their surname. However, one of the children of the last ruler of the State of Zou fled south and founded a new State in 311BC. He named his new domain as the State of Zhu (邾國), the original name of the old State before it was changed to Zou. Thus he revived the State of Zhu.
In 281BC, the State of Chu conquered and annexed the new State of Zhu which disappered into the mists of history for good. The children of the last ruler of Zhu adopted ZHU (朱), not Zhu (邾), the name of their state, as their surname.
Parethenetically, this Zhu is written without the radical "big ear" on the right. They argued that since they had lost their State, their surname Zhu should be without the radical big ear on the right. ("Big ear" is equivalent to the radical Yi (邑) which means town or city or place.)
The couplet for surname Zhu is:
紫陽門第﹐=Zi Yang men di,
沛國家聲。=Pei Guo jia sheng
(Note: Zi Yang refers to the title of Zhu Xi 朱熹。
Pei Guo is the place of the origin of surname ZHU)
Famous historical people produced by the Zhu clan include:
(1) 朱元璋 (Zhu Yuan Zhang 1328AD to 1398AD)
Zhu Yuan Zhang was born into a very poor farming family in Hao Zhou (濠州) of Jiangsu province (江蘇省), during the Yuan Dynasty (元朝 1206AD to 1368AD). When he was a boy he studied for a few months in the village private school. As his family was so poor that his father, Zhu Wu Si (朱五四), had to stop him from going to school. Zhu Yuan Zhang became a shepherd boy looking after the neighbour's cows.
In 1344AD his parents and elder brother all died of epidemic diseases when he was seventeen yeras old. He had no means and land to bury them. Luckily, Liu Ji Zu (劉繼祖), his neighbour gave him a piece of land to bury them. As he had no relatives
to go to he became a monk in a temple called Huang Jiao (皇覺).
During the years between 1348AD to 1353AD, many groups of people organized throughout the country for the sole purpose of fostering against the Mongols - Yuan Dynasty. There was an armed band called the Red Turban, so called from the head-dress adopted by its members. Red Turban was controlled by Guo Zi xing
(郭子興). Later Zhu Yuan Zhang joined the Red Turban.
As Zhu Yuan Zhang was tall, brave, smart and intelligence Guo Zi Xing appointed him a leader of a squad. As he excelled in battles Guo Zi Xing adored him and wanted Zhu Yuan Zhang to be near him at all times to give him advice. Red Turban had grown into a large army. Eventually, Zhu Yuan Zhang married Guo Zi Xing's adopted daughter Ma Shi (馬士).
In the third month of 1355AD Guo Zi Xing died of illness. Zhu Yuan Zhang becanme the leader of the Red Turban Army. Zhu Yuan Zhang destroyed the Yuan Dynasty and in 1368AD he founded the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368AD to 1644AD). He installed himself as Emperor Tai Zu (太祖) and established his capital in YingTian Fu (應天府 present day Nanjing city 南京市 in Zhejiang province 浙江省).
一統江山明社稷=Yi tong jiang shan Ming she ji
The land is unified as the country of Ming.
(2) 朱德 (Zhu De 1886AD to 1976AD)
太行浩氣傳千古﹔猛士如雲唱大風
Written by Zhu De (朱德)
Zhu De, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Red Army, the present day People Liberation Army (PLA), was born in 1886 into a poor Hakka farmer family in Yi Xian (義縣) of Sichuan province (四川省). He studied the Chinese classic for six years in his home village school. He was a primary school teacher before he enrolled in the Military College of Yunnan province (雲南講武堂). After his graduation he joined the army under the command of Cai E (蔡鍔) who appointed him a Lieutenant. Zhu De took part in the revolution against the Qing Government (清朝). He rose to the rank of Colonel when the Republic of China was established. After the death of Cai E he became the commander of the police force in the province of Yunnan.
In 1921 Zhu De went to study Social Science in Germany. In Germany he
met Zhou En Lai (周恩來), Deng Xiao Ping (鄧小平) and many others who
later became the leaders in the Chinese Communist Party.
He returned to China and joined the army and its commander was Zhang Fa Kui
(張發奎). He took part in the Nanchang Uprising (南昌起義) on the First of August
1927. After the collapse of the uprising Zhu De led his forces and retreated to Swatow (汕頭 Shantou) in Guangdong province (廣東省). Later, they were driven out of Swatow and they withdrew to the provinces of Jiangxi (江西省) and then to Hunan (湖南省).
On September 8, 1927 Mao Ze-Dong (毛澤東) led a group of peasants and staged an uprising called the Autumn Harvest Uprising (秋收暴動) in Hunan province (湖南省). The following month Mao Ze-Dong congregated the remnants of the uprising of about 800 men and 80 rifles. They climbed the Jing Gang Shan (井崗山) with the goal of establishing a revolutionary base in these mountains.
In April 1928 Zhu De (朱德), leading the remnant of his force of about 2,000 men, arrived in Jing Gang Shan and joined forces with Mao Ze-Dong. Together, there were about 4,000 of them in the region that could hardly support such a large force.
In January 1929 Mao Ze Dong and Zhu De shifted their base to the region between the provinces of Jiangxi and Fujian (福建省) where there were many Hakka villages. A Chinese Soviet Republic was established on 7 November, 1931. Rui Jin (瑞金), south of Jiangxi province, was the capital of the Soviet Republic. The Chairman of the Soviet Republic was Mao Ze-Dong (毛澤東). The Vice Chairmen were Xiang Ying (項英) and Zhang Guo Tao (張國濤). The commander-in-chief of the Red Army was Zhu De (朱德).
On October 16, 1934 the Red Army of about 100,000 began the Long March. The Red Army chose to march through the Hakka villages because they knew the Hakkas would help them. Along the trek they passed through many Hakka villages where the villagers tried their best to help the Red Army and many young Hakkas joined the ranks of the Red Army. The Long Marchers trekked through 11 provinces and walked for 6,000 miles before they arrived in Shaanxi province (陜西省) in the North.
After much fighting and marching for five months the Red Army arrived at a town called Lu Ding (瀘定) in Sichuan province. The Red Army had to cross the Lu Ding bridge that was spanned by 13 iron chains. 200 feet below the bridge was the Da Du River (大渡河).
It was here in 1864, that the heroic Hakka Taiping army (客家太平軍), under the command of Shi Da Kai (石達開), was massacred by the Qing Government (清朝) troops. People said that at night one could occasionally hear the souls of the dead Hakka Taiping soldiers wailing and lamenting their fate.
Zhu De, the commander of the Red Army, retold his comrades the stories which the Old Weaver used to tell him in his childhood about the Taipng Army of Shi Da Kai.
"Yes," the Old Weaver used to say, "our army perished at the Da Du River. Shi Da Kai's troops died by the thousands at the Da Du River, and some in the river because they were starving and preferred death in the river to surrender to the Manchus. They had no food and they ate all the horses and mules......The Manchus........bribed the savage Lolos [an ethnic group of Chinese] and armed them with foreign guns to attack the Taiping Army from the rear and cut off the food supply.......They built defences along the Da Du River and Shi Da Kai could not cross, for we Taipings had only bows and arrows...Shi Da Kai's soldiers....made rafts, and 5,000 boarded them and held their leather shields before them and their spears in their hands....But the foreign cannon blazed, the rafts were destroyed, and the Da Du River was clogged with the bodies of the dead." [Agnes Smedley's THE GREAT ROAD].
The Old Weaver would close his story with the words:
"On dark nights, when there is no moon, you can still hear the spirits of our Taiping dead wailing at the Da Du River crossing and over the town where they were slaughtered. They will wail until they are avenged. Then their spirits will rest."
Shi Da Kai surrendered and suffered a gruesome death.
All the planks on the bridge had been removed by the Nationalist troops before the Red Army arrived. The Red Army men swung from the chains under fire to cross and capture the bridge from the Nationalist troops who fled for their lives after seeing the heroic actions of the Red Army. Eventually the Red Army crossed the Lu Ding bridge and did not suffer the same fate as the Taiping Army. The Red Army completed the Long March on October 20, 1935 when they arrived at a northern province near the Great Wall .
(3) 朱熹 (Zhu Xi 1130AD to 1200AD)
Zhu Xi was born in the present day Wu Yuan county (婺源縣) of Jiangxi province
(江西省), during the Song Dynasty (宋朝 960AD to 1279AD). He was recognized by the Federation of Hakka Associations of Malaysia as a Hakka. In 1148AD he graduated as a scholar (Jin Shi 進士) and was appointed an official. Zhu Xi was the most famous theorist and educationist in the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋). He had written many books and the most famous one is the book on explaination of the
Four Classical Book (四書).
This is one of one the poems from his book Shi Ji Chuan (詩集傳):
雨後池上
一雨池塘水面平﹐淡磨明鏡照檐楹。
東風忽起垂楊舞﹐更作荷心萬點聲。
After the rain the surface of the pond was clam,
Like a clear mirror shining on the house front doors.
Suddenly an eastern gust, making the braches of the poplar tree danced,
And trembled the lotus flowers like whispering.
(I cannot recall who translated it, either Dr. SL Lee or I
or from somewhere else).
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 30102003
Yoon-Ngan
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.